(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to packaging and particularly to the folding of sheet material into a wrapper which has no internal edges for interference with insertion of the product being wrapped. More specifically, this invention is directed to packaging machines or stations which receive and fold sheet material around an item, a pre-formed block of cigarettes for example, to be wrapped in a rapid and efficient manner. Accordingly, the general objects of the present invention are to provide novel and improved methods and apparatus of such character.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
While not limited thereto in its utility, the present invention is particularly well-suited for use in the formation of "soft" cigarette packages and particularly as part of a "side-folding" packaging station for forming a sheet of material into an inner wrapper which extends about a pre-formed group or block of cigarettes. It has, for many years, been common practice in the cigarette industry to form an inner wrapper for a "soft" cigarette package by means of apparatus known as a "side-folding packer". The manner of operation of such "side-folding packers" is such that, after an end of the package has been formed from a sheet of packaging material, tabs which result from the formation of the package end are folded inwardly. Subsequently, the sides the package are folded over the tabs. The resulting inner wrapper of the cigarette package is thus characterized by interior edges or ridges, defined by the end edge of a tab, which extend across the narrow sides of the rectangular package.
It is common practice for a "soft" cigarette package to be opened by removing the inner and outer wrappers in a portion of on end to thus allow access to the interior of the package. The portion of the wrappers removed will typically be sufficiently large to expose the ends of several cigarettes. The smoker will extract a cigarette from the package by producing impacts on the closed end and such impacts will usually result in several cigarettes being partially ejected. Those of the partially ejected cigarettes which are not to be used at that time must therefore be pushed back into the package. During this reinsertion, the cigarettes being pushed back into the package may "hang up" on one of the aforementioned interior edges and become damaged either due to breaking because of the application of excess force in the insertion direction or because of tearing of the cigarette paper.